Piezoelectric touch-sensitive flexible hybrid energy harvesting nanoarchitectures

Abstract

In this work, we report a flexible hybrid nanoarchitecture that can be utilized as both an energy harvester and a touch sensor on a single platform without any cross-talk problems. Based on the electron transport and piezoelectric properties of a zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructured thin film, a hybrid cell was designed and the total thickness was below 500 nm on a plastic substrate. Piezoelectric touch signals were demonstrated under independent and simultaneous operations with respect to photo-induced charges. Different levels of piezoelectric output signals from different magnitudes of touching pressures suggest new user-interface functions from our hybrid cell. From a signal controller, the decoupled performance of a hybrid cell as an energy harvester and a touch sensor was confirmed. Our hybrid approach does not require additional assembly processes for such multiplex systems of an energy harvester and a touch sensor since we utilize the coupled material properties of ZnO and output signal processing. Furthermore, the hybrid cell can provide a multi-type energy harvester by both solar and mechanical touching energies.

Simple Fabrication and Characterization of Piezoelectric Nanogenerators from Cobalt-Doped Zinc Oxide Nanofibers

“…The output voltage of the PENGs with Co-doped ZnO NFs was higher when compared with previous study (Choi et al, 2010). PENGs with ZnO TFs generated voltages of 20 and 60 mV at a mechanical load of 0.4 and 1 kg, respectively.…”

“…Meanwhile, the PENGs were measured their output electric energy using an ADAM Advantech (series 4018) and software PCLS-Adam View 32. When measuring the output electric energy from NGs, the cyclic mechanical load of 0.5 kg was applied to represent the condition of a light finger tapping (Choi et al, 2010). The power of piezoelectric-based NGs was subsequently calculated from the output voltage generated by the variation of load resistance (Ω) (Chen et al, 2010), as following:…”

Enhancing Output Voltage of Piezoelectric-Based Nanogenerators Using Zinc Oxide Material Codoped with Aluminum and Cobalt

“…The voltage was recorded by ADAM Advantech 4018 series of data acquisition. The magnitude load of 0.5 kg was performed to represent the applied conditions of weak finger pressure [2,13]. The performance of PENGs was then calculated based on the amount of power (Watt) generated by providing various resistances (Ohm).…”

Nanostructured ZnO Materials: Synthesis, Properties and Applications

“…In spite of this drawback, dense films can still be employed in solar energyharvesting or -sensing devices [146,147].…”